silverviper
New Member
I moved into my house in 2006. The house was built in 1960. I believe ever since then the same pump has been used. The well is 297' deep.
I am in the process of hooking up to city water. When I moved in, the cistern always had a few inches of water in it (see attached file). That image is from 5 years ago. The last two weeks the pump itself has been making a strange spinning noise when it shuts off, also there is a gurgling/bubbling noise coming from the backside of the pump where the pump attaches to the well pipe casing. This noise happens about every 5 seconds. The cistern is now full of water up to the base of the pump and about to flow out over the cistern and into my basement.
I had a well driller look at it 6 months ago and I was informed the motor was shot on it. He told me the pump is a Z-packer? pumpjack. The bearings seemed to be going out on it, I ended up replacing the electric motor on it. I was given an estimate that it was roughly 40 - 50 years old.
The pump/well sits underground outside the house brick foundation. The cistern is very small and it is nearly impossible to do anything inside it unless you are a small child. The pump looks extremely heavy and I don't believe it could fit through the access area for removal. I believe it was installed from the top and lowered down.
If i'm switching over to city water, how can i keep this well from filling up the cistern on its own and coming home to a basement full of water? The unbelievable thing is that this happens when the pump is shut off. I have lived in this house for 8.5 years and i never encountered this problem before.
I thought of a radical idea of mixing bags of concrete into the water in the cistern to make a slurry mix and possibly seal it that way, however that seems a bit extreme. I am currently bucketing water out of the cistern daily, which takes approx. a half hour.
Geographically I live in a little subdivision, and I am the only person on a hill that is 33' higher than anybody else. I am one of eighteen houses. The rest of the houses are below me. Some houses are still on a well, some hooked up to the city water. I wouldn't think this is an artestian well based on how high I am compared to everyone else. I'm just a house on a little hill to myself.
Any ideas out there to stop this thing before I have a basement full of water?
I am in the process of hooking up to city water. When I moved in, the cistern always had a few inches of water in it (see attached file). That image is from 5 years ago. The last two weeks the pump itself has been making a strange spinning noise when it shuts off, also there is a gurgling/bubbling noise coming from the backside of the pump where the pump attaches to the well pipe casing. This noise happens about every 5 seconds. The cistern is now full of water up to the base of the pump and about to flow out over the cistern and into my basement.
I had a well driller look at it 6 months ago and I was informed the motor was shot on it. He told me the pump is a Z-packer? pumpjack. The bearings seemed to be going out on it, I ended up replacing the electric motor on it. I was given an estimate that it was roughly 40 - 50 years old.
The pump/well sits underground outside the house brick foundation. The cistern is very small and it is nearly impossible to do anything inside it unless you are a small child. The pump looks extremely heavy and I don't believe it could fit through the access area for removal. I believe it was installed from the top and lowered down.
If i'm switching over to city water, how can i keep this well from filling up the cistern on its own and coming home to a basement full of water? The unbelievable thing is that this happens when the pump is shut off. I have lived in this house for 8.5 years and i never encountered this problem before.
I thought of a radical idea of mixing bags of concrete into the water in the cistern to make a slurry mix and possibly seal it that way, however that seems a bit extreme. I am currently bucketing water out of the cistern daily, which takes approx. a half hour.
Geographically I live in a little subdivision, and I am the only person on a hill that is 33' higher than anybody else. I am one of eighteen houses. The rest of the houses are below me. Some houses are still on a well, some hooked up to the city water. I wouldn't think this is an artestian well based on how high I am compared to everyone else. I'm just a house on a little hill to myself.
Any ideas out there to stop this thing before I have a basement full of water?